Carton for merchandising display cards



Jan. 10, 1961 G. F. BOLINGER CARTON FOR MERCHANDISING DISPLAY CARDS Filed Nov. 17, 1958 INVENTOR. GEORGE F. BOLINGER BY A TTORNEY United States Patent CARTON FOR MERCHANDISING DISPLAY CARDS George F. Bolinger, Shelbyville, 111., assignor to Sta- Rite Ginnie Lou, Inc., Shelbyville, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Nov. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 774,265

3 Claims. (Cl. 20657) This invention relates to a carton for merchandising display cards and to a combination of the carton with such cards.

It is the common practice in the merchandising of many small articles to mount the articles on display cards having openings at the top thereof, and to display the cards in stores on supporting bars or rods passing through the openings. It usually is necessary to remove the cards from the box and hang them one at a time on the supporting bars. This practice is followed, for example, in the marketing of such articles as bobby pins and the like.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel type of carton for containing a plurality of cards of the character referred to, wherein the carton is of such nature as to facilitate the simultaneous placing of all of the cards on a supporting bar, followed by the removal of the carton by pulling it downwardly from the cards.

More specific an object of the invention is to provide a carton of the character referred towherein the front wall of the carton, and the back wall of the carton, together with the closure flap for the top of the carton, are .provided with slots of such nature that by opening andfolding back theclosure flap, slots will be-provided at. the front and back of the carton in alinement with the openings in the cards to facilitate the simultaneous placing of all of the cards on the supporting rod or display bar,

whereupon the carton may be withdrawn downwardly from the cards, leaving the latter supported on the display bar.

A further object is to provide a carton of the character referred to in combination with display cards therein, wherein the cards are provided with correspondingly placed openings near the top thereof arranged in alinement with each other and with the slots in the carton to facilitate the placing of the cards on the supporting or display bar in the manner referred to.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a carton with the parts in closed positions and with the cards therein;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the positions of the parts as the cards are placed in position on a supporting bar;

Figure 3 is a similar view of an empty carton showing the closure flaps open; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the display cards.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the numeral designates a pasteboard or similar carton as a whole, having front and back walls 11 and 12 respectively and side walls 13. The bottom of the carton is closed by a cover member 14 which may be of any conventional type.

The top of the carton is closed by side flaps 16 connected to the walls 13 along scored lines 17 to facilitate 2,967,611 Patented Jan. 10, 1961 which forms the main closure for the top of the carton when the latter is closed as in Figure l. A tab 23 is formed integral with the wall 20 and is connected thereto along a scored line 24. When the box is closed, obviously the wall 22 is coextensive in area with and closes the top of the carton while the tab 23 is arranged within the front wall 11.

The front wall 11 is provided with a vertical slot 25 cut downwardly from the free upper edge of the wall 11 and usually arranged centrally of the width of the wall 11. The back wall 12 is provided with a slot 26 extending downwardly from the scored line 21, preferably the same distance as the slot 25 is cut in the front wall 11. The top wall 22 is similarly slotted as at 27 to form a continuation of the slot 26, as clearly shown in Figure 3. The slots 25 and 26 are in alinement with each other.

The carton is adapted to contain article-supporting and display cards 30, one of which is shown in detail in Figure 4. Mounted on these cards are the articles to be displayed for sale in stores, for example bobby pins and the like. Each of the cards is provided near its upper edge with an opening 31 shown in the present instance as being triangular for a reason to be referred to. Since'the openings 31 are formed in corresponding positions in the individual cards, all'of the openings 31 will be in alinement with each other from the front to the back of the box, and the centers of these openings will be alined with the centers of the widths of the slots 25 and 26. These openings are adapted to receive a suitably supported display rod or bar 32 as shown in Figure 2.

Operation mount articles for sale on display cards such as the cards 30, and to provide such cards with openings near the top thereof whereby the cards may be supported on rods or bars as shown in Figure 2. Customarily, a package of the articles is opened, the cards are dumped therefrom, and then picked up singly and placed in position on the supporting bars. This displaying of the article-carrying cards is recognized as an eflicient merchandising method, but it is something of a nuisance to have to separately handle the cards to place them in position on the supporting bars. This is particularly true where a substantial number of cartons of such cards are to be placed in position in the manner stated.

With the present construction, the merchandiser will open the closure flap 20, fold this flap back as indicated in Figure 2 with the wall 22 arranged against or substantially against the back wall 12 of the carton. The flaps 16 are then pulled outward-1y as shown in Figure 2. Grasping the box by engaging the fingers with the front wall 11 and against the flap 20, the merchandiser may place the box in position adjacent the end of a supporting or display bar 32, whereby the carton may be moved inwardly of the bar to engage the latter through all of the openings 31 of the cards in the box.

It will be apparent that when the flap 20 is folded back in the manner referred to, the slots 26 and 27 will coincide with each other, the top of the slot 27 in Figure 3 then registering with the bottom of the slot 26 whereby these two slots form, in effect, a single upwardly stanti al amount of time is saved, particularly where a substantial number of boxes of display cards are to be placed in position on the bars 32.

Some display bars in common use are of circular crosssection as shown in Figure 2 and are suitably formed at their rear ends to be supported on peg board or the like. Some display bars 32 now in common use are larger in cross section and of different shapes, some of them being triangular. Thus the openings 31 are preferably made triangular and substantially larger than the supporting bar, thereby providing for the supporting of the cards on any supporting bars in common use. Moreover, the making of the openings 31 larger than the supporting bars enables the merchandiser very easily to place the cards in position for display in the manner stated.

The carton is cheap to manufacture, practically nothing being added to the cost of a conventional rectangular carton since the cutting of the blank of the carton and the cutting of the slots 25, 26 and 27 may be performed in the same operation. Accordingly, the present device is highly economical to manufacture and greatly facilitates the displaying of the article-carrying cards.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of the parts may be made as do not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a carton comprising spaced parallel vertical front and rear wall and spaced parallel side walls, said front wall having an upwardly opening slot extending downwardly from the upper edge thereof, a closure flap connected to the upper edge of said rear wall and extending from side wall to side wall of the carton and normally folded down to close the top of the carton, said closure flap and said back wall having cooperating slots opening into each other whereby, when said closure flap is folded back against the rear face of said back wall, said cooperating slots will generally coincide with each other and form, in effect, a single slot opening through the top edge of said back wall, and a plurality of cards in said carton generally parallel to said front and rear walls and provided with corresponding positioned openings therethrough near the tops thereof, said cards generally corresponding in shape and size to the space between said side walls to be positioned thereby whereby said openings will be alined with each other .and with the slot in said front wall and with said single slot, whereby when said closure flap is folded back against the rear face of said back wall, a supporting rod may be inserted through the openings in said cards and said carton may be withdrawn downwardly from said cards.

2. In combination, a carton comprising spaced parallel vertical front and rear walls and spaced parallel side walls, said front wall having an upwardly opening slot extending downwardly from the upper edge thereof, a closure flap connected to the upper edge of said rear wall and extending from side wall to side wall of the carton and normally folded down to close the top of the carton, said closure flap and said back wall having cooperating slots opening into each other whereby, when said closure flap is folded back against the rear face of said back wall, said cooperating slots will generally coincide with: each other. and, form, in effect, a single slot opening through the top edge of said back wall, said cooperating slots, when said closure flap is folded back against the rear of said back wall, having their lower extremities coinciding and said single slot thus formed being of a vertical depth equal to the vertical depth of said slot in said front wall, and a plurality of cards in said carton generally parallel to said front and rear walls and provided with correspondingly positioned openings therethrough near the tops. thereof, said cards generally correspondingin shape and size to the space between said side walls to be positioned thereby whereby said openings will be alined with each other and with the slot in said front wall and with said single slot, whereby when said closure flap is folded back against the rear face of said back wall, a supporting rod, may be inserted through the openings in said cards and said carton may be withdrawn downwardly from said cards.

3. In combination, a carton comprising spaced parallel vertical front and rear walls and spaced parallel side walls, and a closure flap for the top of the carton comprising a top wall for the carton connected to the upper edge of said back wall along a scored line and extending from side wall to side wall of the carton, a closure tab connected to said top wall along a scored line coinciding with the upper edge of said front wall when said closure flap is closed, under which conditions said closure tab is inserted into the top of the carton adjacent said front wall, said front wall being provided with an upwardly opening slot between the vertical edges thereof cut downwardly from the upper edge of said front wall, said back wall having a slot corresponding in width and vertical height to said first-named slot and in transverse alinement therewith and extending vertically downwardly from said first-named scored line, said top wall having a slot cut therein from said first-named scored line and having its longitudinal edges coincident with the planes of the longi tudinal edges of said slot in said back wall, the length of said slot in said top wall, corresponding to the vertical length of said slot in said rear wall, whereby when said closure flap is folded back against the rear face of said back wall, said slots in said back wall and in said top wall coincide to form in effect a single upwardly opening slot, and a plurality of cards in said carton generally parallel to said front and rear walls and provided with correspondingly positioned openings therethrough near the tops thereof, said cards generally corresponding in shape and size to the space between said side walls to be positioned thereby whereby said openings will be alined with each other and with said slot in said front wall and with said single slot, whereby when said closure flap is folded back against the rear face of said back wall, a supporting rod may be inserted through the openings in said cards and said carton may be withdrawn downwardly from said cards.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

